Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
George BerkeleyRead
We have first raised a dust and then complain we cannot see.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that we often create problems for ourselves and then lament their consequences.
George Berkeley's quote reflects on the tendency of individuals to generate chaos or confusion in their own lives, only to later express frustration about the resulting lack of clarity or understanding. It serves as a critique of human nature, highlighting how our actions can lead to self-imposed obstacles and unnecessary complaints about those very obstacles.
Themes
Self-Created ProblemsFrustrationPerceptionLife ChoicesAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal responsibility, one might say, 'We have first raised a dust and then complain we cannot see' to emphasize the need for self-reflection.
More from George Berkeley
All quotes βTo be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi)." Or, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
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Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.
George BerkeleyRead
All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth - in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world - have not any subsistence without a mind.
George BerkeleyRead
The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
George BerkeleyRead
Many things, for aught I know, may exist, whereof neither I nor any other man hath or can have any idea or notion whatsoever.
George BerkeleyRead
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